Provence`s Ratatouille Can Be Nutritious And Tasty

What a wonderful thing is ratatouille, the vegetable casserole from Provence. Even the name has a welcoming, sharp cadence, like snare drums playing in celebration of something very good to eat.

All recipes for ratatouille involve eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers. They also call for olive oil in wildly varying amounts. That`s the nutritional key; the more oil, the more calories. The vegetables themselves are tasty and pretty, but after extended cooking they have little to offer by way of vitamins or other nutrients.

A quarter of a cup to half a cup of olive oil is all that is usually needed. If you use a non-stick pan or casserole, you can get away with less.

The other big decision involves the way the ratatouille is cooked. There are several schools of thought here. You can throw everything in the pot and bake it slowly; saute all the vegetables together, then finish in the oven, or saute the vegetables separately and combine in the oven.

It helps if you know what you want your ratatouille to look like. One recipe advises cooking the vegetables in the oven until they resemble ``a thick brown marmalade.`` This won`t find favor with many modern cooks.

A good compromise is to saute everything in a large pan, adding the firmest vegetables first: onions, peppers, squash, tomatoes. When all the ingredients are on a reasonably even footing, either continue cooking on the stove or transfer the pan to the oven.

What you are shooting for is a dish in which the vegetables are quite soft but still retain some color and shape. A little sauce is inevitable, because the vegetables will give up their water while they cook. Finish cooking, with the lid off, either on the stove or in the oven. If you really want dry ratatouille, simply drain the cooked vegetables. Usually, though, some moisture is nice.

Besides serving it with entrees of most any sort, ratatouille is great cold, in an omelet or almost any other way.

The recipe below is adapted from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker (Bobbs-Merrill, 1978). It calls for an extra sprinkling of olive oil just before adding the eggplant. If you use a good, fruity olive oil, you probably won`t need the extra.

RATATOUILLE PROVENCALE

2 1/2 cups diced eggplant

3/4 cup thinly sliced onion

2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

cup olive oil

1/2 cup whole, pitted black olives

4 green peppers, cored and sliced thinly

3 cups zucchini, sliced thinly

2 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon oregano or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with a little salt. Wait about half an hour for water to run off.

While the eggplant is draining, use a deep non-stick skillet to saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until golden.

Simmer, covered, over low heat for about 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook about 15 minutes to reduce the amount of liquid in the pan. Serve hot or cold with reduced-calorie sour cream or yogurt if desired. Makes 8 servings.